Information and media manipulation
Environmental contamination
Harassing farmers

Monsanto is best known for producing the dioxin-containing defoliant Agent Orange, which was used extensively in the Vietnam War. Monsanto has also gained notoriety for suing a Canadian farmer who unintentionally grew genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready canola after pollen from GE seeds drifted into his fields and contaminated his crop.

The company's disregard for corporate social responsibility is summed up in a quote from Phil Angell, Monsanto's director of corporate communications, to the New York Times, October 25, 1998: "Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is [the U.S. Food and Drug Administration]'s job."1

Information and media manipulation

Monsanto funded and published numerous studies during the 1980s arguing that dioxin was harmless. Dr. Cate Jenkins of the EPA testified that "there are numerous…flaws in the Monsanto health studies. Each of these misrepresentations and falsifications served to negate any conclusions of adverse health effects from dioxins." In 1991, a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study refuted Monsanto's claims, proving that dioxin exposure can lead to cancer.2

In 1991, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated that Monsanto's promotional materials on recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) went "beyond the legitimate exchange of scientific information," ordering Monsanto to stop making unsubstantiated claims through advertisements and promotional videos. Monsanto also threatened to file lawsuits against any companies that advertised "no rBGH" on their food products.3

Canadian government officials, speaking on camera, have said that they believe Monsanto tried to bribe them with offers of US$1 to $2 million to gain approval for rBGH in Canada. Monsanto officials say the Canadians misunderstood their offer of "research" funds.4

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Environmental contamination

Dioxin

Dioxin from a Monsanto plant contaminated the community of Times Beach, Missouri. In 1982, 2,000 people were permanently relocated by the state government and the U.S. EPA-11 years after the contamination was first discovered, and eight years after the cause was identified as dioxin. Mental dysfunctions and immune system disorders have been found in children from the area.5

PCBs

PCB contamination from a Monsanto factory in Anniston, Alabama has produced widespread health and environmental consequences. The results of studies showing potential impacts of PCBs were disregarded by Monsanto, leading to multi-million dollar negligence settlements in recent years. After the first lawsuit was filed by a local church, Monsanto attempted to purchase the church building; eventually the Alabama Supreme Court forced the company to pay US$2.5 million to the church's members.6

In February 2002, a jury found that the Anniston plant was responsible for polluting the community with PCBs, although the amount to be paid in damages has yet to be determined. The PCBs are believed to be responsible for causing multiple types of skin ailments, reproductive disorders, liver disease, cancers, cerebral palsy and other diseases. One of the findings against Solutia (Monsanto's chemical spinoff ) is called a "tort of outrage." According to the defense attorney, "This is reserved for conduct that is so reprehensible that it shocks any civilized person." He said that this charge is very difficult to prove, and demonstrates a high level of liability on Solutia that is likely to result in a large damage claim.7

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Harassing farmers

Monsanto tracks down farmers who replant seed from Monsanto's genetically engineered crops. In the company's own words, "Monsanto is vigorously pursuing growers who pirate any brand or variety of its genetically engineered seed, such as Roundup Ready soybeans and cotton and Bollgard cotton." The company has hired full-time investigators to follow up on seed saving leads it receives. Monsanto has pursued over 500 cases in the U.S. in at least 20 states. Monsanto maintains that seed saving is illegal even if a farmer did not sign an invoice statement for the seed at time of purchase.8 A Canadian federal judge ruled that Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser had infringed the patent on Monsanto's Roundup Ready canola because the crop was found on his land. Even information that Monsanto divulged before the trial- that a neighbor had planted Monsanto's transgenic canola next to land that Schmeiser seeded the following year-made no difference. Once conventional seed that Schmeiser had been developing for 50 years was found to contain Roundup Ready genes, it became property of Monsanto. The judge ordered Schmeiser to pay all profits from his 1998 crop to Monsanto.9

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Notes

1 Pollan, M., "Playing God in the Garden," New York Times, October 25, 1998.

2 Testimony before EPA dioxin reassassment panel, December 1994, by L. C. Casten, Environmental Task Force Chair, Chicago Media Watch, http://www.greens.org/s-r/078/07-47.html; memorandum to the EPA from W. Sanjour (policy analyst), July 1994, http://pwp.lincs.net/sanjour/monsanto.htm; "Monsanto: A Checkered History," the Institute for Social Ecology, http:// www.social-ecology.org/learn/library/tokar/monsanto_2.html ; Fagin, D. and M. Lavelle., 1999, Toxic Decption: How the Chemical Industry Manipulates Science, Bends the Law and Endangers your Health, Common Courage Press, Monroe, Maine.

3 Fagin and Lavelle, op. cit., p. 190; "Monsanto: Greenpeace Corporate Criminal Report," http://www.greenpeace.org/~usa/ reports/biodiversity/corpcrim.html.

4 "Milk, rBGH, and Cancer," Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly #593, April 9, 1998.

5 "Another accidental release of dioxin at Times Beach heats up the debate over the incinerator's safety," Riverfront Times (St. Louis), May 15, 1996, http://lists.essential.org/1996/ dioxin-l/ msg00249.html; "Monsanto: A Checkered History," the Institute for Social Ecology, http://www.social-ecology.org/learn/library/ tokar/monsanto_2.html; "A Corporate Giant," News in Review, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, http://www.cbc.ca/ insidecbc/newsinreview/mar99/milk/corp.htm; "Times Beach Deleted From National Priorities List," EPA-OECA, Fall 2001, http://es.epa.gov/oeca/osre/cleanupnews.html#times.

6 "In Dirt, Water and Hogs, Town Got Its Fill of PCBs," Washington Post, January 1, 2002; "PCBs Drenched Ala. Town, But No One Was Ever Told," Washington Post, January 1, 2002; "Environmental Justice Case Study: The People of Anniston, Alabama v. Monsanto," http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/Jones/ anniston.htm#Problem.

7 "Judge in PCB case presses for settlements," St. Louis Post Dispatch, February 26, 2002. "Jury decides against Monsanto, Solutia in PCB case, " Reuters, February 25, 2002.

8 "Monsanto Prosecutes U.S. Seed Violators," PANUPS, December 14, 1998.

9 "Monsanto engineers the road to serfdom," Cropchoice, May 29, 2001

This fact sheet was prepared by Pesticide Action Network North America, March 2002. Published on GE Food Alert. Genetically Engineered Food Alert is a coalition of seven organizations - including Friends of the Earth - united in their commitment to testing and labeling genetically engineered food.